Tony Blair Holding Jamie Dimon’s Hand Through Brexit Anxiety

JPMorgan Chase has 16,000 employees and a pretty, pretty sizeable business in the U.K. And in spite of earlier predictions that as many as a quarter would be getting to know Frankfurt and Dublin a lot better, Jamie Dimon has reacted to the British people’s economic suicide with remarkable equanimity. Perhaps it’s because, whenever he starts to have a panic attack about Brexit, he knows who to call: former British Prime Minister and owner of a fantastically calming voice Tony Blair. Indeed, while telling the public that the country he used to run “will pay a significant economic penalty” for its foolishness, Blair has spent most of his time walking JPMorgan employees through the disaster, holding their hands and whispering softly into their ears.

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Mr. Blair has served as chairman of the bank’s J.P. Morgan International Council, a group of influential politicians and company executives that meet annually to share perspectives on economic, political and social trends across the world. And, with Brexit very much a concern, Mr. Blair was at J.P. Morgan’s side [last] week. In between chats with chief James Dimon, Mr. Blair has participated in events for the bank’s clients and employees. On Monday afternoon he popped into the Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue in New York to give a keynote address at J.P. Morgan’s inaugural Energy Equity Investor Conference...And his duties didn’t end there...Mr. Blair participated in a videocast chat spearheaded by J.P. Morgan’s private bank – geared toward its wealthiest clients — with Michael Cembalest, the unit’s chairman of market and investment strategy. Thousands of private bank and investment management clients called into the fireside chat as well as thousands of employees. “It was a big deal,” said one person who listened in.